Editorial
ACLU needs to get back on right track

The local chapter of the respected American Civil Liberties Union, which has done much good work for Hawai'i over the years, punched itself firmly in the nose in May when its board voted against inviting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to a First Amendment conference here.

Thus, it is a victory for common sense and the ACLU's reputation that the board has concluded it will reconsider that decision at a meeting later this month.

Obviously, the ACLU can invite whom it wants, when it wants. But it appears clear that the objection to Thomas was because some local ACLU members are disgusted with what he stands for and what he has to say.

That's a strange stand for a civil liberties group to take, particularly when the subject is the First Amendment.

The conference at which Thomas might speak is the annual Davis-Levin First Amendment Conference, an event established and funded by Honolulu Weekly columnist Robert M. Rees and administered by the ACLU. The conference has heard from other conservatives, including a successful event earlier this year featuring Justice Antonin Scalia.

Rees has written extensively on the current controversy in the Weekly.

It's understandable why there is no love lost between Thomas and many on the ACLU board, particularly its African American members. He is the anthesis of almost everything they stand for.

But the ACLU also stands for free speech and the free marketplace of ideas, even ideas that may be offensive to some. For that reason, it is the perfect host for a presentation from this most conservative of jurists.